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This backpack designed for poor kids does so much more than carry books
South Africans Thato Kgatlhanye and Rea Ngwane are co-founders of the business Rethaka. Their brand of Repurposed Schoolbags are made from recycled and reinforced plastic shopping bags. Recipients are all poor. But it’s so much more than a bag. Because the kids often live in shacks and remote areas with no electricity, Repurposed Schoolbags are built with some other smart features. On the outside of the flap is a pocket for a solar panel, which charges on the long walk to and from school.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- solar
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Indore: Approval for mobile app to curb dengue spread hangs fire
Even as dengue cases rise, government approval for a mobile app that could prevent the disease from spreading by speeding up monitoring and intervention is hanging fire.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Backed by Gates, Affinivax Ramps up Velcro-like Vaccine Tech
A new startup with backing by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called Affinivax claims it’s created a vaccine to protect against all 90 strains of pneumococcal bacteria. Now comes the hard part: scaling up, proving it in clinical trials, and making a successful business out of it.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Vaccine group says 5 million-plus lives can be saved over next few years in poor countries
GAVI Alliance believes its five-year plan to vaccinate another 300 million children worldwide will save at least 5 million lives. It will also save billions of dollars now lost to treatment of the preventable illnesses and other costs, like parents' lost wages, members of the alliance said.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Eli Lilly shares MDR-TB drug technology with Shasun Pharma
US drug maker Eli Lilly and Company said on Thursday that it had shared the manufacturing technology for two antibiotic drugs meant for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with India’s Shasun Pharmaceuticals Ltd as part of its ongoing programme to increase access of these medicines in countries including India, China, Russia and South Africa, where drug-resistant TB is most prevalent.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Schneider Electric off-grid, on-profit solutions to create social change in African rural communities
Schneider Electric South Africa has set itself a target to create access to energy for 20 000 Africans by the end of this year. An ambitious goal, but the energy efficiency giant believes this is achievable due to its solid sustainable development strategy, products and solutions.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Social Entrepreneurs Compete For More Than $3M In Skoll Challenge
The Skoll Foundation just kicked off its second annual Social Entrepreneurs Challenge. Open to its 87 awardees, 68 are participating. The competition is taking the form of a crowd-funding campaign, using the services of CrowdRise, which has a fundraising platform for nonprofits.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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China To Build Liberia Health System
The government of the People’s Republic of China has pledged that as a plan for the post-Ebola period, it will work with other international partners to help build and modernize Liberia’s health sector.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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